Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
The Xenia offense is coached up by head coach Maurice Harden during the team’s opening scrimmage of the season. Xenia will look to rebound and get back into Miami Valley League title contention in 2024.
XENIA — Gavin McManus believes anyone weighing more than 250 pounds might be a struggle for him to block. Gunnar Stephan is not sure how he would do if needing to throw a football more than 20 yards.
Lucky for them, they only have to worry about their own roles and not each others.
Xenia will be led in the 2024 season by a four-year starter at quarterback who has had his primary blocker in front of him dating back to pee wee days.
“Me and Gavin, we have grown up together,” Stephan said. “We played in Wee Bucs, we played flag football before that together. It’s been a blast blocking for him, and it’s been a good blast to grow alongside him.”
McManus enters the season 855 yards and 10 touchdowns away from the school’s career passing records set by Danny Naylor in 2015. He has led some of the most dynamic offenses in Xenia history, including the 2022 season’s undefeated squad that set numerous school scoring records.
He has completed better than 60 percent of his passes over the first three years with talented receivers to throw at, something that won’t change this year with Shawn Fishwick lining up at wide receiver.
“We all have a connection,” McManus said. “Everybody in the senior class, we’re all really close so it makes it a lot easier to play with each other.”
Both players are multi-year captains and head coach Maurice Harden said he has been privileged to have the duo be part of his first full class to come through the program.
“That’s my guy,” Harden said of McManus. “When I first got here, he was the kid that I decided was going to be leading our football team as a 14 year old and for most kids that’s a very daunting task. But anytime he stood up to the plate, he hit a homerun every single time so for him to be a four-year starter, understand the offense, understand the scheme and lead us in the right direction and be that standard of what we want as a senior Buccaneer football player is pretty special.
“They’ve been friends since they’ve been in the womb. You have somebody that you’ve played football with and you grow up with from the time you were infant til now is a unique bond.”
Xenia is looking to rebound from a disappointing 2023 campaign that saw a bit of frustration fill the back half of the season following a 4-0 start. Coming off the undefeated regular season in 2022, spirits were high but that is now rearview mirror.
“I mean, that was a great season,” Trimonde Henry said. “Being undefeated was great history, but I mean I’m past that as I’m a senior. It’s our last ride, and I’m focused on this team instead of two years ago.”
This team will have a new stable of running backs with Jamari Scott and Sincere Valdez as early options. The line will be experienced with Kadyn Robinson, AJ Anderson, and Stephan leading the way.
The defense had a rough ending to last season but returns almost every starter. Ronnie Butler and Cecil Piner were two of the top tacklers in the league, with Kale Webb and Louis Freeman manning the lines. Henry may be the leader of the secondary alongside Luke Russell.
It doesn’t hurt to have one of the best kickers in the area as well with Sean Leonard able to play an entire season.
The team has tasted success before and is ready to get back to experiencing it.
“We have a bunch of people that are willing to play for everybody else,” McManus said. “Compared to last year, I feel like we have people that were just playing for themselves, even some people that are on this team, that have grown this year and we’re now playing for each other.”
The schedule lines up in the inverse compared to last season. The rivalry matchup at Beavercreek starts the year, and the Miami Valley League schedule provides a bit of a potential points boost this season with several schools having moved up to Division II. The Buccaneers will have its toughest road games at Butler and Troy, and get to host Sidney, Stebbins and Tippecanoe.
Last year Xenia finished two spots too low to earn another home playoff game. This year it’s on the checklist to get another one and this time also get the evasive home playoff win.
“In order to do that, we got to take care of week one first,” Harden said. “We’re focused on the Beavers right now, they’re gonna be a good football team. So we’re gonna focus on them and then we’ll continue to keep working as the week’s go through.”
Stephan said he’s ready for one last go around with his guys, a group that has already created Xenia history and gets a final chance to make some more.
“It’s about taking on a lot more responsibility, especially as seniors,” he said. “As freshmen or as eighth graders we could kind of just sit back and let the other guys coach yourself. But now we got to be the guys to make sure that all the young guys know what they’re doing.
SEASON OUTLOOK
Xenia Buccaneers
Coach: Maurice Harden (4th year, 21-12)
2023 record: 5-6 (MVL Valley t-2nd, first round D-II playoffs); Points Per Game: 22.8 (Off.) 20.6 (Def.)
What to expect: “We’ve got a different mindset. We’re going to finish the game out playing all four quarter this year.” — Trimonde Henry, senior
Key Players: Ronnie Butler, Sr., LB (106 tkls, 68 solo, 1 sack, 9 TFL, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 INT); Shawn Fishwick, Jr., WR (21 rec, 241 yds, 1 TD); Louis Freeman, Jr., DL (48 tkls, 13 solo, 4.5 TFL, 1 sack); Gavin McManus, Sr., QB (154-243 passing, 1,681 yards, 7 TD, 7 INT); Gunnar Stephan, Sr., OL (162 rushing ypg); Kale Webb, Jr., DL (45 tkls, 16 solo, 1 sack, 9TFL, 2FF, 1FR)
Captains: A. J. Anderson, Ronnie Butler, Trimonde Henry, Gavin McManus, Gunnar Stephan, Kale Webb
Schedule (all games 7 p.m.)
(Home games in ALL CAPS)
Aug. 23 — at Beavercreek
Aug. 30 — WEST CARROLLTON
Sept. 6 — at Sidney
Sept. 13 — STEBBINS
Sept. 20 — at Butler
Sept. 27 — FAIRBORN
Oct. 4 — at Troy
Oct. 11 — PIQUA
Oct. 18 — at Greenville
Oct. 25 — TIPPECANOE
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
